babiller

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French babiller, from Old French babillier (“to stutter”), from a root *bab- (compare also Middle French baboyer (“to mumble”)), probably of Germanic origin, from Old Dutch *babōn, *babelōn (“to mumble, chatter, babble”), from Proto-West Germanic *babalōn, from Proto-Germanic *babalōną (“to chatter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰa-bʰa-, *baba- (“to talk vaguely, mumble”).

Cognate with Dutch babben (“to babble”), Dutch babbelen (“to babble”), German pappeln (“to stammer, babble”), Icelandic babba and babla (“to babble”). More at babble.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.bi.je/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

babiller

1. to chat; to babble; to natter (to talk about insignificant things)

   Synonyms: bavarder, jaser, jacasser

2. (Louisiana) to scold

Conjugation

Conjugation of babiller (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	babiller
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	babillant /ba.bi.jɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		babillé /ba.bi.je/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	babille /ba.bij/	babilles /ba.bij/	babille /ba.bij/	babillons /ba.bi.jɔ̃/	babillez /ba.bi.je/	babillent /ba.bij/
	imperfect	babillais /ba.bi.jɛ/	babillais /ba.bi.jɛ/	babillait /ba.bi.jɛ/	babillions /ba.bij.jɔ̃/	babilliez /ba.bij.je/	babillaient /ba.bi.jɛ/
	past historic2	babillai /ba.bi.je/	babillas /ba.bi.ja/	babilla /ba.bi.ja/	babillâmes /ba.bi.jam/	babillâtes /ba.bi.jat/	babillèrent /ba.bi.jɛʁ/
	future	babillerai /ba.bij.ʁe/	babilleras /ba.bij.ʁa/	babillera /ba.bij.ʁa/	babillerons /ba.bij.ʁɔ̃/	babillerez /ba.bij.ʁe/	babilleront /ba.bij.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	babillerais /ba.bij.ʁɛ/	babillerais /ba.bij.ʁɛ/	babillerait /ba.bij.ʁɛ/	babillerions /ba.bi.jə.ʁjɔ̃/	babilleriez /ba.bi.jə.ʁje/	babilleraient /ba.bij.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	babille /ba.bij/	babilles /ba.bij/	babille /ba.bij/	babillions /ba.bij.jɔ̃/	babilliez /ba.bij.je/	babillent /ba.bij/
	imperfect2	babillasse /ba.bi.jas/	babillasses /ba.bi.jas/	babillât /ba.bi.ja/	babillassions /ba.bi.ja.sjɔ̃/	babillassiez /ba.bi.ja.sje/	babillassent /ba.bi.jas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	babille /ba.bij/	—	babillons /ba.bi.jɔ̃/	babillez /ba.bi.je/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• babillage
• babillard
• babillement

Further reading

• “babiller”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Old French

Verb

babiller

1. Alternative form of babillier

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ill, *-ills, *-illt are modified to il, iz, it. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of babiller (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		babiller			avoir babillé
gerund		en babillant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		babillant
past participle		babillé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	babil	babilles	babille	babillons	babillez	babillent
	imperfect	babilloie, babilleie, babilloe, babilleve	babilloies, babilleies, babilloes, babilleves	babilloit, babilleit, babillot, babilleve	babilliiens, babilliens	babilliiez, babilliez	babilloient, babilleient, babilloent, babillevent
	preterite	babillai	babillas	babilla	babillames	babillastes	babillerent
	future	babillerai	babilleras	babillera	babillerons	babilleroiz, babillereiz, babillerez	babilleront
	conditional	babilleroie, babillereie	babilleroies, babillereies	babilleroit, babillereit	babilleriiens, babilleriens	babilleriiez, babilleriez	babilleroient, babillereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	babil	babiz	babit	babillons	babillez	babillent
	imperfect	babillasse	babillasses	babillast	babillissons, babillissiens	babillissoiz, babillissez, babillissiez	babillassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	babille	—	babillons	babillez	—